From the cover of Jon Krakauer's book:
In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to a charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet and invented a life for himself....4 months later he was dead. Into the Wild is the story of Chris McCandless, in his early 20's when he died, told by a sympathetic writer who first told it in Outside magazine. The book is a page-turner, piecing together McCandless' life and travels with interviews from family, friends and folks he met on the road.
The story is controversial, with folks lining up on 2 basic sides:
side 1) what an idiot! unprepared, ignorant and arrogant.Krakauer is in the 2nd camp.
side 2) what a brave, independent spirit! willing to strike out on his own like that. he'd be considered a hero if he had lived.
Kirkus Reviews calls it "A wonderful page-turner written with humility, immediacy, and great style." It has been adapted for film, but I'm not interested in seeing it.
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I saw the movie Into the Wild it was pretty good but towards the end of the movie I caught myself saying what an idiot.
ReplyDeleteSome of the best stories in the world are about stupid, arrogant fools. And I think we all are at some point - in the eyes of other people.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I´m totally in camp 1 where this guy is concerned...
i was totally in the "what an idiot" camp before i read the book. explanations in the book made me realize how close he came to succeeding and how much of what happened wasn't within his ability to prepare for.
ReplyDeletenow i reserve my "what an idiot" judgment for not letting _anybody_ know how to find him if they hadn't heard from him. he posted requests for help at his location in case anybody came across his camp while he was out foraging, but he got too weak to walk out on his own.
it's such a sad story.